第12章

Left to herself, Bertrande felt utterly worn out by so much emotion;indignation gave way to depression.She began to realise what she had done, and the scandal which would fall on her own head.Just then her baby awoke, and held out its arms, smiling, and calling for its father.Its father, was he not a criminal? Yes! but was it for her to ruin him, to invoke the law, to send him to death, after having taken him to her heart, to deliver him to infamy which would recoil on her own head and her child's and on the infant which was yet unborn? If he had sinned before God, was it not for God to punish him? If against herself, ought she not rather to overwhelm him with contempt? But to invoke the help, of strangers to expiate this offence; to lay bare the troubles of her life, to unveil the sanctuary of the nuptial couch--in short, to summon the whole world to behold this fatal scandal, was not that what in her imprudent anger she had really done? She repented bitterly of her haste, she sought to avert the consequences, and notwithstanding the night and the bad weather, she hurried at once to Pierre's dwelling, hoping at all costs to withdraw her denunciation.He was not there: he had at once taken a horse and started for Rieux.Her accusation was already on its way to the magistrates!

At break of day the house where Martin Guerre lodged when at Rieux was surrounded by soldiers.He came forward with confidence and inquired what was wanted.On hearing the accusation, he changed colour slightly, then collected himself, and made no resistance.

When he came before the judge, Bertrande's petition was read to him, declaring him to be "an impostor, who falsely, audaciously, and treacherously had deceived her by taking the name and assuming the person of Martin Guerre," and demanding that he should be required to entreat pardon from God, the king, and herself.

The prisoner listened calmly to the charge, and met it courageously, only evincing profound surprise at such a step being taken by a wife who had lived with him for two years since his return, and who only now thought of disputing the rights he had so long enjoyed.As he was ignorant both of Bertrande's suspicions and their confirmation, and also of the jealousy which had inspired her accusation, his astonishment was perfectly natural, and did not at all appear to be assumed.He attributed the whole charge to the machinations of his uncle, Pierre Guerre; an old man, he said, who, being governed entirely by avarice and the desire of revenge, now disputed his name arid rights, in order the better to deprive him of his property, which might be worth from sixteen to eighteen hundred livres.In order to attain his end, this wicked man had not hesitated to pervert his wife's mind, and at the risk of her own dishonour had instigated this calumnious charge--a horrible and unheard-of thing in the mouth of a lawful wife."Ah! I do not blame her," he cried; "she must suffer more than I do, if she really entertains doubts such as these;but I deplore her readiness to listen to these extraordinary calumnies originated by my enemy."The judge was a good deal impressed by so much assurance.The accused was relegated to prison, whence he was brought two days later to encounter a formal examination.

He began by explaining the cause of his long absence, originating, he said, in a domestic quarrel, as his wife well remembered.He there related his life during these eight years.At first he wandered over the country, wherever his curiosity and the love of travel led him.

He then had crossed the frontier, revisited Biscay, where he was born, and having entered the service of the Cardinal of Burgos, he passed thence into the army of the King of Spain.He was wounded at the battle of St.Quentin, conveyed to a neighbouring village, where he recovered, although threatened with amputation.Anxious to again behold his wife and child, his other relations and the land of his adoption, he returned to Artigues, where he was immediately recognised by everyone, including the identical Pierre Guerre, his uncle, who now had the cruelty to disavow him.In fact, the latter had shown him special affection up to the day when Martin required an account of his stewardship.Had he only had the cowardice to sacrifice his money and thereby defraud his children, he would not to-day be charged as an impostor."But," continued Martin, "Iresisted, and a violent quarrel ensued, in which anger perhaps carried me too far; Pierre Guerre, cunning and revengeful, has waited in silence.He has taken his time and his measures to organise this plot, hoping thereby to obtain his ends, to bring justice to the help of his avarice, and to acquire the spoils he coveted, and revenge for his defeat, by means of a sentence obtained from the scruples of the judges." Besides these explanations, which did not appear wanting in probability, Martin vehemently protested his innocence, demanding that his wife should be confronted with him, and declaring that in his presence she would not sustain the charge of personation brought against him, and that her mind not being animated by the blind hatred which dominated his persecutor, the truth would undoubtedly prevail.

He now, in his turn, demanded that the judge should acknowledge his innocence, and prove it by condemning his calumniators to the punishment invoked against himself; that his wife, Bertrande de Rolls, should be secluded in some house where her mind could no longer be perverted, and, finally, that his innocence should be declared, and expenses and compensations awarded him.

After this speech, delivered with warmth, and with every token of sincerity, he answered without difficulty all the interrogations of the judge.The following are some of the questions and answers, just as they have come down to us:--"In what part of Biscay were you born?"

"In the village of Aymes, province of Guipuscoa.""What were the names of your parents?"

"Antonio Guerre and Marie Toreada."

"Are they still living?"